Bailey's FG lifts Oklahoma State to 38-35 win

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- For two teams trying to stay perfect on
the season, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M sure made a lot of
mistakes.

It came down to Jerrod Johnson making one too many for the
Aggies.

Shaun Lewis intercepted Johnson's pass in the final seconds and
Dan Bailey kicked a 40-yard field goal as time expired to lift
Oklahoma State to a 38-35 victory over Texas A&M on Thursday
night.

Johnson turned the ball over five times, including a key fumble
that led to a Cowboys touchdown in the fourth quarter and his
fourth interception that Lewis returned 28 yards to set up the
game-winner. The Cowboys (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) rallied from a
14-point deficit only to let Texas A&M (3-1, 0-1) do the same,
and nearly win the game, too.

"It was just a very emotional game that had a number of
mistakes," Cowboys coach Mike Gundy said, "and we were able to
capitalize on the last one."

Johnson threw two touchdown passes in the final 5 1/2 minutes
and had a chance to lead the Aggies on a winning drive of their
own before he overthrew a pass into the arms of Lewis, who fell
down at the 40-yard line with 16 seconds left. Oklahoma State
picked up 17 yards on two plays before sending on Bailey.

The Cowboys flooded onto the field to celebrate their first
three-game winning streak in a series that had been dominated by
Texas A&M until recently. The Aggies had won 10 of the first 12
games between the teams following the creation of the Big 12.

"It was a roller coaster for sure. I thought maybe they were
going to get a game-winning attempt," said Bailey, who made the
first winning kick of his career. "But our defense stepped up
and made a big play and we got a chance to win it."

Johnson threw for 409 yards and a career-best five touchdowns
but it was his final pass in the meeting of surging Big 12 South
rivals that likely will be remembered. In the process, he broke
A&M's career record for passing yards and Jeff Fuller set a new
school record with his 20th touchdown catch.

"This is a tough loss. Going into the season I circled this game
on my calendar as a kind of catalyst for the season," Johnson
said. "We talked about it as a team. It was an opportunity for
us to show something on national television. We came out and
competed, we fought hard, but at the same time we have to find a
way to win these type of games."

Brandon Weeden fumbled and threw two interceptions to help Texas
A&M build an early 14-0 lead, but shrugged off the turnover
problems to throw for 284 yards and two touchdowns.

"This game is not going to be perfect all the time," Weeden
said. "You can't run perfect plays every time. You're not going
to make good decisions every time. You've just got to live with
it, put it behind you and move on to the next play."

It was the second time in as many tries that Weeden engineered a
rally from a double-digit deficit in a Thursday night showcase
game.

Weeden's first action outside of mop-up duty came while bringing
Oklahoma State back from an 11-point, second-half deficit to
beat Colorado on a Thursday night last season. That's also the
only other time in recent years that the Cowboys wore the black
jerseys they sported against the Aggies.

"I don't know what it is, but I know when we put those on, we've
got that little combination," Oklahoma State receiver Justin
Blackmon said.

This time, Gundy said he thought his team was showing signs of
being "weak." He saw too many players limping around and letting
their heads hang down, and he addressed it in the locker room at
halftime.

"No matter what happens in a game, we're not going to show signs
of being fatigued or weak," he said. "They picked it up after
that."

Weeden completed 13 of 15 passes for 184 yards on three scoring
drives as Oklahoma State rallied to tie it at 21. Kendall Hunter
had a 2-yard TD run in between Weeden's 38-yard scoring pass to
tailback Joseph Randle and the tying 29-yard strike to Blackmon.

It was Blackmon's 10th touchdown in four games, the most in the
country.

Oklahoma State went up 28-21 after Johnson's third interception
of the game led to Hunter's 7-yard touchdown run late in the
third quarter.

On A&M's next drive, Johnson dropped the ball, clutched in his
right hand, while trying to fight off pressure from Jamie
Blatnick. Oklahoma State's Darius Hart rolled on top of the
ball, and James Thomas came running up to grab it and race 63
yards to put the Cowboys up by two touchdowns.

Johnson bounced back to lead an 80-yard drive that spanned 7 1/2
minutes, zipping a 4-yard TD pass to Kenric McNeal on fourth
down to keep the Aggies alive. Oklahoma State went
three-and-out, and Johnson needed just four passes to tie it
again on a 28-yard score to Ryan Swope.

Oklahoma State got one first down before punting the ball back
to A&M with 1:16 left, and the Aggies were near midfield when
Johnson committed his 10th turnover in the past two games - and
it finally cost him.

"I made too many mistakes out there tonight," Johnson said. "We
played OK in spurts on offense and defense but never together.
It's hard to beat teams in the Big 12 when you turn the ball
over like we did."